Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page bring the saucy romcom sweetness in ‘You, Me & Tuscany’

There was a moment in my screening of You, Me & Tuscany when the man sitting next to me murmured, “Now it’s a good movie.” Gazing at the water dripping off of Regé-Jean Page trademark assets in the middle of a gorgeous Italian vineyard, the moment the trailers had promised us, I had to agree.

Really, who doesn’t need a shot of pure cinematic escapism nowadays? It frankly doesn’t matter if your romantic tastes don’t align with You, Me & Tuscany’s intended audience, because it gives everything audiences will want to escape to, even beyond its ridiculously beautiful, effortlessly charismatic leads.

It’s also hardly a surprise that the movie doesn’t exactly break new ground. Right from the beginning, we get Halle Bailey’s Anna giving us a whose baby are you nepo’ed to Sex and the City-esque fantasy, only to reveal that she’s a glorified house sitter whose glamour is borrowed from her wealthy clients. We can’t risk a romcom heroine’s relatability, and hers never is. 

Once she runs afoul of her latest client Nia Vardalos, Anna is once again down on her luck but able to freeload in a glamorous hotel thanks to Claire (Aziza Scott), one of those quirky best friends who is always around to keep things moving as the genre demands. Once Anna forms a nonsexual connection with Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor) and is inspired by his tales of his gorgeous Italian home and completely empty villa, you know where this is going.

Universal Pictures

Faster than you can say while you were sleeping, Anna has flown to Tuscany and is quickly mistaken for Matteo’s fiancée when his family discovers her, nearly as quickly forming a connection with Matteo’s cousin Michael (Regé-Jean Page). But also, you do what you gotta do to avoid the police and what will surely be nonglamorous prison time. Not to mention Anna’s fabulous wardrobe would also be wasted, as would the gorgeous scenery and food porn, because her backstory includes a culinary career that was cut short due to her mother’s illness and subsequent death. 

You know where every single frame of this is going, from the time Anna is nearly run over by Michael’s adorably off kilter truck and their subsequent bad first impression, the role each member of the Italian clan (with Stella Pecollo’s comedic chops and her infidelity as a running gag being a highlight), the cheerful local cab driver Lorenzo (Marco Calvani) who becomes her faithful confidant and advisor, etc. Once Matteo shows up with about forty minutes left of the movie, you can’t blame them for not pulling the plug on the fantasy they’ve built, not with a family so close-knit, welcoming, and central to their surroundings that residents are quickly greeting Anna by name once they’ve embraced her. 

There’s also a big local event, Michael’s wine business - hence that sprinkler drenched dream in the fields - and…well, other stuff that is immaterial next to the steamy chemistry that romantic comedies run on. Anna and Michael are so charming, so easy to root for, and husband and wife writing team Ryan and Kristin Engle stuff the script with such fun, witty banter that even text messages become memorable zingers, with director Kat Coiro ensuring that the gorgeous landscape never outshines her leads.

Universal Pictures

The result is a modern fairy tale, and one that has higher stakes due to the simple fact that it has Black stars whose storylines don’t revolve around trauma and racism, with the movie coming close to actually acknowledging race at Michael and Anna’s first antagonistic meeting, even throwing in a mention of edges and no one around knowing how to do Anna’s hair. It’s a series of small moments, but it feels monumental for a movie with a goal of feel-good vibes, and it’s far better than the classism and outright nasty elitism of Ticket to Paradise.

There’s also higher stakes for this film, with many an offering from Black creatives which may hinge on its success. It’s a lot to stuff in a film that aims for the gentle sweetness of gelato, but sweet it is, with a warm saucy aftertaste just for good measure. And stick around for some hilarious end credits improv.

Rating: B+